National Cathedral construction; 9 Court of Appeal judges to be relocated

Nine justices of the Court of Appeal, are to be relocated from their Ridge residential accommodations to make way for the construction of the National Cathedral.

Several other buildings including the Scholarship Secretariat, Passport Office at Ridge are also to be demolished as government is set to begin the construction of the National Cathedral.

Scores of other structures within that enclave including the Judicial Training School are also expected to be pulled down to make way for the 5000 seater cathedral which will also include a Bible Museum and a Documentation Centre.

Occupants of some of the residential facilities have begun packing out their belongings as they’ve been served with notices to vacate the place even as the Supreme Court hears the CPP’s James Kwabena Bomfeh’s application to halt the process.

The nine Appeals Court Judges whose bungalows have been affected have meanwhile been asked to move into a rented facility while government constructs new bungalows at Cantonments to be handed over to the Judicial Service in 2020.

Below is a copy of a letter from the office of the Chief Justice informing the affected justices about the relocation

RE: RELOCATION OF JUDGES

I write to apologise to all judges affected by the relocation of bungalows exercise for the Administrations inability to provide you with timely written notification to relocate from your present accommodation.

On the 5th of April 2018, a delegation from the Office of the President informed me of the Government’s intention to utilize the entire area of land between the State House Ridge Roundabout for the construction of the proposed National Cathedral Project.

The delegation, which was led by the Rev. Dr. Asante Antwi (Chairman0 included Most Rev. Bishop Justice Offei Akrofi (the former Anglican Archbishop of Accra), the Hon. Peter Amewu (the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources) and Dr Paul Opoku-Mensah.

As proposed, the National Cathedral Project will result in the demolition of all buildings within the project catchment area, from the Ridge Circle to the Scholarship Secretariat, including bungalows occupied by our Judges and the Judicial Training Institute at East Ridge.

In lieu of this, the Government has committed to construct twenty one (21) new bungalows on the Second Circular Road, Cantonments to replace the ones affected by the project. Construction of the new bungalow is expected to be completed and handed over to the Service by January 2020.

Meanwhile, Government has provided temporary residential buildings for all Judges affected for the period the new bungalows would be under construction. These bungalows have been allocated to enable all Judges affected to temporarily relocate from their present accommodation.

The Hon. Minister of Lands and Natural Resources by a letter dated 24th July 2018 formally confirmed the verbal representations made at the 5th April 2018 meeting, i.e. the relocation of the Judges affected by the National Cathedral Project and the construction of the twenty-one (21) new bungalows, as well as land for the Judicial Training Institute.

The late formal communication from the Senior Minister made it difficult for us to give you early notification on the relocation from your current residential accommodation, although I admit that since the agreement in principle had been reached, it would have been proper for us to give you a hint at least.

Please accept our apologies for the delay in notifying you of the relocation.